A long time passed.
Exactly how long this long while lasted, Shangguan Yunying herself couldn't say.
She only knew that she was immersed in that kiss, like a moth darting toward a flame, fully aware of the danger yet unable to extricate herself.
It wasn't until her lungs burned with the stinging pain of oxygen deprivation that she finally let go of Gu Chengyin.
As their lips parted, a moist sound echoed in the air.
Shangguan Yunying gasped for breath, her chest heaving violently, her cheeks so red they looked as if they might bleed.
A hazy, watery sheen still lingered in her eyes, and her swollen, moist lips gave off an alluring luster in the dim light.
An unprecedented sense of satisfaction welled up from the deepest depths of her heart.
She had kissed him.
Not passively receiving, but actively demanding.
Not in a deserted alleyway, not in some hidden corner, but in the bedchamber of the Crown Princess, right beside Her Highness's bed.
The thrill brought on by this insane act made her whole body tremble, yet it also felt incredibly exhilarating.
However, this exhilaration lasted for only a brief moment.
When Shangguan Yunying panted and raised her head, her gaze collided with another pair of eyes.
Right beside Gu Chengyin, less than a foot away.
Luo Zhao.
Her Highness.
At some unknown point, Luo Zhao had sat up.
Those phoenix eyes, usually so majestic and sharp, were now looking at her calmly.
No anger, no shock, no shame, no emotional fluctuation whatsoever.
It was as if she were watching something that had absolutely nothing to do with her.
Shangguan Yunying's heart completely stopped beating in that instant.
Her breathing stalled.
Her blood froze.
Time was suspended.
It was over.
It was all over.
Her Highness saw it.
Saw her take the initiative to kiss Gu Chengyin.
Saw her pin Gu Chengyin against the bed.
Saw her commit such a shameless act in the Crown Princess's bedchamber.
Shangguan Yunying's mind went completely blank.
But in the next second, Shangguan Yunying realized something was wrong.
Too calm.
Luo Zhao's eyes were far too calm.
So calm it was unreal.
If Her Highness had truly seen that scene just now, even if she wasn't furious, she should at least show shock, disgust, or the anger of being offended.
But there was nothing in Luo Zhao's eyes.
Like a pool of stagnant water, calm and rippleless.
Shangguan Yunying had seen this kind of look before.
This was not the real Luo Zhao.
It was a puppet of consciousness.
The real Her Highness had not shown herself.
This realization woke Shangguan Yunying from the abyss of fear.
Her heart began to beat again, her blood began to flow again, and her breathing grew rapid once more.
Just as Shangguan Yunying's thoughts were churning, Gu Chengyin also sat up.
His movements were very slow, his green robes making a faint rustling sound as they rubbed against the bed.
Then he turned his head, his eyes meeting Luo Zhao's.
The bedchamber was very dark, illuminated only by the moonlight filtering in through the window and the faint glow of the night lamp on the dressing table.
But this little bit of light was enough to illuminate Luo Zhao's face.
Absolutely beautiful.
The moonlight shone in from the side, casting shadows of varying depths across her face.
Her eyelashes were long and thick, casting fan-shaped shadows under her eyelids.
Her nose was straight, her lip color pale, and her skin emitted a fine, porcelain-like luster in the moonlight.
Breathtakingly beautiful.
Yet her eyes were so hollow it made one's heart ache.
That was not the look of someone awake, not a look of anger, not a look any normal person should have.
It was the look of being thoroughly controlled.
Submissive, vacant, devoid of emotion.
A perfect state of hypnosis.
Gu Chengyin narrowed his eyes.
His gaze swept over Luo Zhao's face inch by inch, trying to find even the slightest flaw on this flawless visage.
Was there any unnatural tension in the muscles at the corners of her eyes?
Was there an imperceptible twitch in the curve of her mouth?
Was there a momentary disruption in the rhythm of her breathing?
Was there a brief acceleration in the beating of her heart?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Luo Zhao simply looked at him calmly, her eyes hollow, her expression serene, her breathing even, her heartbeat steady.
Like an exquisite puppet waiting for its master's command.
Gu Chengyin's heart sank bit by bit.
Time and time again, he probed.
Time and time again, he confirmed.
Every single time, Luo Zhao displayed a perfect state of hypnosis.
Without a single flaw.
Without a single abnormality.
As if she were truly hypnotized.
As if...
Gu Chengyin silently repeated these words in his heart.
He remained suspicious.
But suspicion required proof.
And right now, all conclusions pointed to the fact that Luo Zhao was indeed hypnotized.
It was like a person who constantly did good deeds; you could call them a hypocrite, but what if they kept up that hypocrisy for an entire lifetime?
Her Highness... is awake?
Shangguan Yunying's cautious voice broke the silence in the bedchamber.
She had recovered from her initial fear, but her voice still trembled slightly.
Looking at Luo Zhao's hollow eyes, and then at Gu Chengyin's solemn expression, complex emotions surged in her heart.
Gu Chengyin shook his head.
His gaze remained fixed on Luo Zhao's face as he said with a slight headache:
Her Highness is not awake.
The one who woke up is not Her Highness.
These words were spoken quite cryptically.
Shangguan Yunying bit her lower lip lightly, then suddenly raised her hand and smacked Gu Chengyin.
It is all your fault!
The force wasn't heavy; it was more like a coquettish reprimand.
You scared me half to death just now! I thought Her Highness had seen us. If that had happened, I would be completely doomed!
Shangguan Yunying pouted, her tone carrying a hint of reproach, while she silently added in her heart:
Actually, I am already doomed.
The real Her Highness definitely saw it.
She just couldn't come out right now, couldn't express her anger, couldn't punish her.
But that didn't mean the matter was over.
Once Gu Chengyin left and Luo Zhao switched back...
Shangguan Yunying didn't dare to think about it.
Gu Chengyin let out a deep breath, then said:
It is my fault.
Then he said to Luo Zhao:
Go back to sleep. Pretend I was never here.
This was a command.
In a hypnotic state, Luo Zhao would unconditionally execute her master's commands.
Sure enough.
Upon hearing the command, Luo Zhao lay back down, her eyes slowly closing.
Her breathing became even and long once more, and her body settled back into a comfortable sleeping posture.
The entire process was natural and fluid.
Without any hesitation, without any resistance, without any flaws.
Like a precision machine executing a preset program.
Gu Chengyin watched silently.
Watched Luo Zhao close her eyes, watched her steady breathing, watched her enter a state of deep slumber.
No flaws.
He couldn't find a single flaw.
There truly wasn't even the slightest hint of a flaw!
Gu Chengyin didn't want to believe it, but he had to admit it.
At present, he could find no evidence to prove that Luo Zhao was faking it.
It seemed...
He could only get the answer from Gu Xiaoli.
Gu Chengyin turned his head to look at Shangguan Yunying.
The moonlight shone in through the window, casting half-bright, half-dark shadows across her face.
The blush on her cheeks had yet to fade, her lips were slightly swollen, and a hazy, watery sheen still lingered in her eyes.
Do you know where Xiaoli is?
Gu Chengyin asked, his voice very calm.
Shangguan Yunying froze for a moment, thought about it, and said:
Because you were coming tonight, I had her go to one of the other side halls.
You need to find her?
Gu Chengyin nodded. I have a small matter to discuss with her, but there is no rush. Tomorrow will do.
Shangguan Yunying nodded, her tone natural. Alright.
The bedchamber fell into a temporary silence.
Shangguan Yunying looked at Gu Chengyin, and then looked at the soundly sleeping Luo Zhao.
A crazy thought suddenly crossed her mind.
Since His Highness continued to feign sleep...
Since Gu Chengyin had already confirmed the hypnotic state...
Then, could she, perhaps, be a little bolder?
Things had already come to this anyway.
His Highness had already seen it anyway.
She was already doomed anyway.
Shangguan Yunying took a deep breath.
Then, she leaned in close to Gu Chengyin's ear.
Exhaling a warm, fragrant breath,
she kept her voice incredibly low, lacing it with a hint of provocation:
"Shall we... continue?"
iemie, male, Race: Moon. Hobby: Collecting anomalies. At first, he thought he possessed two systems: the Crimson Rainbow Moon and the Clear Cold Frost Moon. One day, he discovered that he himself could also become a system for others, holding the chessboard of fate. The Eighth Epoch, also known as the Eternal Moon Epoch. Humans, witches, elves, bloodline descendants, specters, demons, and spirits together compose a new history. Walking the path on behalf of the moon, before he knew it, Chen Miemie's footsteps were followed by all manner of strange and wondrous anomalies. As time passed, many titles circulated about him—The King in Yellow, Lord of Anomalies, Heart of the Eternal Moon, and more. "Me? I'm just a traveler who enjoys collecting interesting creatures," Chen Miemie said.
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
